Israel's military on alert for settler violence

Palestinian children look at a car owned by Palestinians that was set on fire overnight during clashes between Jewish settlers and Palestinians in the West Bank town of Hebron, Friday, Dec. 5, 2008. After the eviction of a disputed house in Hebron Thursday, settler youths rampaged in the town, attacking Palestinians and setting fire to property. Israeli defense officials say the military has been placed on alert in the West Bank to head off settler violence in wake of the evacuation of the building. (AP Photo/Tara Todras-Whitehill)
— AP

Palestinian children look at a car owned by Palestinians that was set on fire overnight during clashes between Jewish settlers and Palestinians in the West Bank town of Hebron, Friday, Dec. 5, 2008. After the eviction of a disputed house in Hebron Thursday, settler youths rampaged in the town, attacking Palestinians and setting fire to property. Israeli defense officials say the military has been placed on alert in the West Bank to head off settler violence in wake of the evacuation of the building. (AP Photo/Tara Todras-Whitehill)
/ AP

JERUSALEM 
Israel beefed up security throughout Jerusalem and the West Bank on Friday, bracing for new violence after the evacuation of a disputed West Bank building set off a rampage by Jewish settlers.

Police said they had placed a larger-than-usual deployment of 500 officers in and around the West Bank city of Hebron, the center of Thursday's unrest, and taken up positions elsewhere in the West Bank.

Police and soldiers also were on heightened alert throughout the West Bank, defense officials said.

The moves followed Israel's eviction Thursday of dozens of extremist Jewish settlers from a Hebron house claimed by both Jews and Palestinians. The settlers had holed up in the four-story building in defiance of a Supreme Court order to get out while ownership is determined.

The eviction set off rampages by settler youths who attacked Israeli policemen and Palestinians and set fire to Palestinian homes and cars. Some 35 Israelis and 17 Palestinians were wounded, including five Palestinians who were shot.

Tensions were still high on Friday. In Jerusalem's Old City, police briefly clashed with Palestinian youths. In central Hebron, several dozen Palestinians protesting the settler attacks clashed with soldiers, who dispersed the crowd with tear gas. No injuries were reported in either incident.

Worried about possible Palestinian disturbances in retaliation for the settler attacks, police also restricted the entrance of Muslim worshippers to Friday's communal prayers at Jerusalem's Al-Aqsa mosque. Palestinian men under 45 were barred, said Micky Rosenfeld, police spokesman.

Palestinian residents near the disputed building, who spent much of Thursday cowering in their homes, emerged Friday to inspect the damage and sweep up stones thrown by settlers.

The building was empty and under military guard, its metal doors chained shut and padlocked by soldiers. The troops briefly allowed settlers back into the building to collect their belongings.

Despite the relatively quiet day, both police and the army said security would remain heightened at least through the end of the Jewish sabbath at sundown Saturday.

Hebron, a biblical city holy to both Muslims and Jews, is one of the most volatile flash points between Israelis and Palestinians. About 600 hardline settlers live in heavily guarded enclaves in the city, which is home to 170,000 Palestinians, and there is frequent friction between the sides.

Israeli army commanders also met Friday with their Palestinian counterparts in the West Bank. Officials discussed the incidents in Hebron and "agreed to work together to prevent violence and to keep the public order," the army said.

The U.N.'s Mideast envoy, Robert Serry, welcomed Israel's eviction of the settlers but condemned the ensuing violence. "I remain concerned about the potential for a further escalation of a tense situation," he said.